HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Friday, July 14th, 2006 - - For the past two centuries, the tunnels of Nova Scotia’s OAK Island have piqued the imagination of historians and treasure hunters alike. Now, a new theory by First Nations researcher Keith Ranville may add fresh speculation to the mystery. Based on a unique reading of an inscription once found in the “Money Pit,” Mr. Ranville believes that the answer to the riddle may be found on nearby Birch Island.

Oak Island, located on the scenic Mahone Bay about an hour’s drive south of the provincial capital of Halifax, has been associated with buried treasure since the late 18th century. Local settlers reportedly found a ship’s tackle block hanging from a tree branch, overhanging a large depression in the ground. Early efforts to dig down failed when the diggers encountered layers of timber every 10 feet. In the ensuing generations, several organized excavation attempts have drilled down nearly 200 feet, en route encountering some artifacts within the staggered layers of logs, clay, putty, charcoal, flagstones and most perplexingly, coconut husks. Among the scores of enthusiastic treasure hunters was a young Franklin Roosevelt, one of the investors in a 1909 excavation attempt.

During the earlier diggings of 1800’s, the tunnel had become flooded by seawater – which many believed was the result booby trap being sprung – thus complicating further digging since then. A drilling effort in the mid 1800’s was said to have uncovered fragments of a gold chain. In 1971, a camera was lowered into the pit and reportedly captured images of wooden chests and human remains.

One of the most fascinating artifacts from the pit was said to be a flat stone recovered at the 90 foot depth, carrying a mysterious inscription. A fragment of stone with similar symbols was found nearby in Smith’s Cove in the 1930’s. The stone tablet itself has gone missing, but a record of its symbols remains. Until now, the consensus is that the symbols are a code translated as “forty feet below two million pounds are buried.” However, Keith Ranville’s theory offers a different interpretation as to the stone’s symbols, which could lead to a new explanation of the OAK Island mystery.

“I believe these symbols have been incorrectly assumed to stand for something else. In the First Nations tradition that I’m a part of, we believe symbols should simply be looked at in and of themselves, rather than thinking of them as codes that have to be cracked,” Mr. Ranville explained. “In the pictograms of Cree Salavics, for example, the images are meant to be descriptive, not abstract.” Using this approach, Mr. Ranville examined the OAK Island symbols and found what may be a set of instructions about a tunnel system involving both OAK Island and nearby Birch Island.

For example, the stone inscription begins with a triangle symbol, which is repeated throughout. Mr. Ranville believes that this represents nearby Birch Island, which has a distinctly triangular clearing on its north shore. Likewise, a symbol showing a circle divided into two hemispheres can be thought of as representing north/south directional markers. A series of dots in singles, pairs and triplets may be quantitative symbols.

Examining all the symbols in this way, Mr. Ranville believes that the symbols on the Money Pit’s stone tablet are actually technical instructions describing the location and layout of a possible underground network involving both OAK Island and Birch Island. “There was a fragment of another stone tablet that was found on OAK Island’s Smith Cove in the 1930’s,” Mr. Ranville explained. “It too has these types of symbols, but one in particular appears to be a Greek symbol designating ‘underwater door’. In conjunction with the other symbols, I believe this points to underwater doors and additional shafts on Birch Island itself.” Smith’s Cove is on the part of OAK Island that is closest to Birch Island, and is said to have yielded several artifacts itself over the years.

“Based on the inscribed symbols, I think we should be looking at OAK Island and Birch Island together in order to solve the mystery. If Birch Island proves to have underwater doors and tunnels around its triangular clearing, then it would be a huge step forward in our understanding of what OAK Island is all about.”

There have been many, occasionally bizarre, theories as to what the OAK Island tunnels may contain: a Masonic vault containing the Holy Grail, Viking or Pirate booty, Inca treasure, the French Royal Crown Jewels, payroll for colonial British soldiers or even the secret writings of Francis Bacon. Mr. Ranville prefers not to speculate. “Those are interesting and sometimes funny theories, but I’d rather just look at the evidence that we do have, and go from there.”

Mr. Ranville is a self-taught researcher born in Manitoba. While living in Vancouver, he became acquainted with the OAK Island mystery and began studying it. In October 2005, he relocated to Nova Scotia to further research and advance his theories on the subject.

Both OAK Island and Birch Island are private property, and access must be sought by permission of the landowners.

Hi I am the Oakster I am the guy that translated these symbols, the people that carved these mysterious symbols' maybe from a lost decent of us. these symbols read logically and makes sense symbol for symbol'. "Birch Islands triangle" is the referance of the triangle written in these mysterious inscriptions. I believe I am at the front doors of solving who is responsible for the Oak Island workings. Right now I am creating awareness to this intriguing discovery of mine. the bigger the awareness the faster I can get things done.

Im not sure whats in the triangle on Birch Island, it could be more only inscriptions or a relic of some sort but I imagine there is something important enough to go through this elaborate workings' to keep something safe. I discovered it so' I am determan to find out whats there....thank you for your insight.

oh yeah I'm not saying there's nothing down there, I wa sjust saying that the possibility of that place being a hidden place for inca gold is just crazy!(i didn't only read it in this thread but in another thread too).

I applied for the treasure trove rights to what ever is in Birch Island. Birch Island holds the secret to the meaning of the construction on OAK Island. OAK Island is the sister Island to Birch Island, if there is any contents to be found it will be in the Birch Island's Triangle. The city of Troy was thought to be Mythical and the people that were scrimmaging to finding the city of Troy were thought to be wasting there time and laughed at by experts and skeptics but with ground breaking research it was discovered.

Hi this is Keith the Native Guy My website are below'"And what new' and all my Tanslations and more.The potential for financial gain could be limitless in terms of the projected treasure on site, but there are no guarantees given that the existence of the money pit has been postulated for more than 200 years and that millions of dollars have already been spent attempting to locate it with little success to-date, but this is a new theory on the location of the pit which has not been promulgated or investigated before and which has had considerable new press in the past year or so since it has been put forward and does hold out a new logical promise.

By participating in this venture, an investor will be come part of and help facilitate a new and exciting approach for a well-publicized and very mysterious treasure. And Keith Ranville could use the support at this time to forward his exploration. If you are interested in becoming a significant part of the effort of uncovering this treasure by pursuing this new line of investigation Read moreHttp://kr.menhak.comhttp://www.mythandmystery.com/oak_island_m...opportunity.htm

I've asked this before and have failed to elicit any response from Mr Ranville or anyone else, but I would advise prospective investors to seriously ask the same questions and not to put any money in until they get satisfactory answers:

- What is the actual evidence that anything at all has been discovered on Oak Island? Lots and lots of people have written about the platforms of Oak and coconut matting etc., but where is the actual evidence?

- What is the actual evidence that the coded tablet which is known today is the same one which was supposedly discovered in the 19th, and what is the evidence that a stone tablet was actually discovered at all?

By evidence I mean actual first hand testimony, not just books saying that it was so...

Edited by Foxe, 18 September 2006 - 11:00 PM.

Foxe

Don't believe everything you are told. Question it, examine it, ask for the evidence and make your own mind up.